Fire-brick.



fication. Y

r is another source of injury to the fire-brick, as,

JOSEPH WORMALD, and HENRY L. SHUPERT,

.engine causes much swaying and jarring of the tends to break the brickbefore they are disout breaking or disintegrating for a period UNITEDSTATES Patented May 31, 1904.

PATENT. O F CE.

FRANK w'. SHUPERT,

FIRE-BRICK.

srncmrca'rmiv forming par or Letters Patent No. 761,418, dated May 31,1904.

Application filed August 28, 1903.

To all ZUhI/O WZ/jt may cgnccrn:

Be it known that we, FRANK W. SI-IUPERT,

citizens of the United States, residing at Hillyard, inthe county ofSpokane and State of Washington, have invented a new and usefulFire-Brick, of which the following is aspeci- This invention relates tofire brick,and more particularly to fire-brick used as arches in thefire-boxes of locomotive-engines and other fire-boxes in which heat ofsimilar intensity is developed. 1 I .,i 7

In the arches of fire-boxes of locomotiveengines,especially modernhigh-power engines in which steam is maintained at apressure of from twohundred to two hundred and-twentyfive pounds to the square inch, thefire-brick are subject to heat of great'intensity, which tends todisintegrate the brick with great ra pidity, and, moreover, the highspeed of the engine, together with a certain amount of dis tortion ofthe contour of the fire-box, which integrated by the action of the heatdeveloped in the fire-box. The feeding of coal into the fire-box inengines of the type above specified owing to the forced draft employed,the coal is drawn into the fire-box withunusual velocity. Owingto all ofthe conditionsnoted inthe preceding paragraph, the fire-bricks whichform the arches of the fire-boxes of locomo tive-engines deterioratevery rapidly, the life of the fire-brick being in some instances asshort as a week.

The objectof this invention is to provide a fire-brick especiallydesigned for use in the construction of the arches of the fire-boxes ofmodern locomotive-engines and capable of re si'sting the jars, strains,and excessive heat to which fire-bricks sofiised are subjected withverymuch. longer than that which usually suffices to render'the ordinaryfire-bricks unfit for further service.

- In attaining the object above stated we make Serial No. 171,149. (Nomodel.) a

, different forms in the accompanyingdrawings,

described in the following specification, and

having the novel features thereof pointed out in the appended claims.

In the draw1ngs,Figure 1 1s a view in longitudinal section through afire-brick, illustrating one form of embodiment of the inyen- 7 tion.Fig. 2 is a view in longitudinal sectioii through a fire-brick, showinga modified form of the invention.

Inthedrawings corresponding parts are des- I ignated by the samecharacters of reference in both views.

Referring to the drawings by reference characters, 1 designates the mainportion of the brick, formed, as usual, of fire-clay.

. 2 2 are metal rods, preferably iron, extending through the brick fromend to endthereof, as shown. 7 1 3,3 designate channels in the brick,within which are inclosed. the metal rods which strengthen the .brickfor use as. specified.

- In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 1 the brick is made withchannels 3, extending through it,- each channel having at either end acountersunk portion 5. The rods 2 are inserted into the channelsafterithe bricks are baked, and each rod is'held in place by means of anut and washer at one end and a bolthead and washer at the other end, asshown. The. countersunk openings in the ends of the brick are filledupwith asbestos and clay after the rods are inserted, which forms a pro;tecting-covering over the ends thereof.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 2 the metal rods providedwith asbestos cove erings 4 are laid in the fire-clay of which the brickis made before the brick is subjected to pressure in the mold to compactit before balcing. 1 The ends of the rods are left uncoveredduring thebaking of the brick in order to permit the clay of which the brick isformed to shrink, as it always does duringthe baking process, withoutcausing injury 1'50 the ends of the. brick from the rods incas'ed withinthe brick. After the brick is bakedthe openings in the ends are filledin with 'fire-clay, as in the form of the invention"alreadydescribed Asiswell knownto the makers of bric fire-clay contracts about one inch intwelve during the baking process, and the temperature at which thebaking is carried on causes an appreciable degree of expansion in themetal. For this reason it is necessary to provide between the metal rodsand the fire-clay of which the brick is formed a yielding sheet orcovering for the rods which will permit the shrinkage of the fire-clayforming the brick without splitting the brick. Before the brick arebaked they are subjected to very heavy pressure to thoroughly compactthe clay of which they are made, and the fibers of the asbestos whichare used in making the coveri'rigs of the metal rods are considerablycompressed thereby; but suflicient compressibility is still left in theasbestos after the molding of the brick by pressure to permit theshrinkage which inevitably occurs during the baking process.

Bricks constructed as described in the foregoing paragraphs are adaptedto withstand the shocks, strains, and intense heat to which thefire-brick arches of the fire-boxes in locomotives are subjected for amuch longer time than the ordinary form of fire-brick, and they are alsoadapted to stand handling and ship-- ment much better than the ordinaryform of V fire-brick, as will be readily seen.

\ In both of the forms of embodiment of the invention described andillustrated the metal vious that the rods may be placed in otherpositions in the brick and accomplish the same results contemplated inour invention. Hence we do not desire to limit ourselves to any spethebrick.

cial mode of disposition of the rods within The rods shown in thedrawings a are round rods; but it is obvious that rods of otherconfigurations may be used instead without sacrificing any of theadvantages obtained by our system of strengthening, and any wellknownform of rod may be substituted for the round rods shown.

While the asbestos covering has been shown only upon the rods placed inthe brick prior to the baking process, as that form of brick is the onlyone in which asbestos covers are a necessity, it will be understood thatasbestos covers may be employed, if desired, upon the rods in theembodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1.

Having thus described the construction and use of our inv ention, whatwe claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A fire-brick consisting of a body portion of fire clay and containingan internal strengthening structure composed of metal rods incased innon-combustible, compressible coverings.

2. A fire-brick comprising a body portion of baked fire-clay and aplurality of iron rods with asbestos covers disposed through said bodyportion.

3. The combination with a lire-brick having channels therethrough, of aplurality of metallic bolts disposed one in each channel, nuts andwashers to hold said bolts securely in place, and plugs of asbestos andfire-clay over the ends of said bolts.

4;. The combination with a fire-brick having a plurality of channelsextending therethrough, each channel having at each end a counterboredportion, of a plurality of metallic bolts disposed one in each channel,nuts and Washers to hold said bolts in association with the brick, andplugs of fire-clay and asbestos over the ends of said bolts.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have heretoaffixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK W. SHUPERT. JOSEPH VVORMALD. HENRY L. SHUPERT.

Witnesses:

E. J. HOLLAND, Gno. F. HOLLAND.

